Experiencing America: Through the Eyes of Visiting Fulbright Scholars: Stories of Foreign Fulbrighters in the United States

This year (2006) is the 60th Anniversary of the Fulbright Exchange Program, this book is published to celebrate it. Book contains the stories of current Fulbrighters in USA who came from different countries for higher education. The experiences and definitions present in these stories are image of America in foreigners mind and this is how they perceive the American culture. The book can give you so many interesting definitions of America, its people and culture you have never heard of. For example, some of the "obvious" and acceptable things that pervade American culture can be offensive to people from other countries. Thus, the book’s overall theme is one of mutual understanding among nations and people. In "Five Definitions of America," a student who came from a remote region of Pakistan describes the United States as "a new planet." Even more profound, however, is how his perception changed during his stay. Primed by his hometown media to view America as "the land of prejudice," he was reluctant to discard such sentiments right away. His story is a timely and insightful examination of the struggle between reality and perception, and how people and their culture combine to give an impression of an entire nation. "The world is a collection of diverse cultures and people. We should not try to make them one. Instead, we should be open enough to accept them as they are," is the theme which evolves throughout the pages in this unique collection.